The present invention refers to a disposable probe for the determination of the vaginal pH and other indices which presents peculiar characteristics and advantages if compared with the tools commonly used for these purposes.
The vaginal pH is a very important index both of physiological conditions and of pathological states and therefore it should be routinely determined during obstetric-gynecological examinations.
The determination of the vaginal pH allows :
1) A specific diagnosis for various kinds of infections such as for example Candida albicans vaginitis, Trichomonas vaginitis, garderenella vaginitis, mycotic infections, etc. PA1 2) A precocious diagnosis of other pathologies of the genitourinary tract. PA1 3) A determination of the more fertile days.
4) To acquire indications about possible local and systemic alterations.
The vaginal pH, in normal conditions, is comprised between 3.5 and 4.5 but tends to increase when the conditions are alterated because of a patology, local or not, after the administration of medicaments or because of paraphysiological conditions. The use of vaginal pH as a diagnostic tool is however strongly limited by the lack of appropriate instruments for routine determinations.
The commonly used instruments are the vaginal electrical or electronic pH-meters, or the paper pH-indicators. The vaginal pH-meters are a very expensive apparatus while the use of paper pH-indicators by direct contact with the vaginal mucosa is inadvisable since no scientific data showing the absence of a cancerigenic factor of the indicators are at present available.